Tuesday, December 05, 2017

... a monthly column presenting five random topics of interest associated with the underlying themes of the site ... music . dance . life . art . culture ... Coils glow pink and purple around black lights at the 604 Paramore Sessions New Years Eve extravaganza put on 666 ZipCode Town Rekkids in December of 2002.

Access more from photos from a variety of events recently restored to the site from the menu on the right, or the "story archive" tab from any device.

music

Berlin’s Clubcommissioner Lutz Leichsenring and Amsterdam’s Night Mayor Mirik Milan officially launched "The Creative Footprint" this month. This innovative new project goal is to gather data data about every single music venue in NYC, and work closely with nightlife scene in the city to find solutions to problems around gentrification.

In a quest to push the limits of dance At REDCAT, 'Tesseract' blurs dance boundaries over four days, in 21st century psychdelic trip dream state that takes viewers on a sci-fi journey into geometry turned human. The show in LA was the last before the performance at 2017 Next Wave Festival.

life

Escherichia coli: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH

Scientists Train Bacteria To Build Unnatural Proteins not found in nature, by a team of scientists at Scripps Research Institute, in the emerging field of Synthetic Biology. The research could eventually be used to produce drugs designed to engineer off-patent formulation of drugs produced by other companies.

Restoration of June 2004 is complete, and will ramp up in 2018, as this column continues in a different format. Stay tuned.

Always looking to expand the social blogging aspect of the site, if you are interested in writing a column similar to this, any one of these topics, or have your own idea, leave a comment below or get in touch with the editor at phocas.net.

Monday, November 06, 2017

Quite a variety of events took place in June 2004, including a huge festival out at Clinton Lake State Park, the grand opening of a new club, and a return of Chaos.

It all started out in the farmland of eastern Kansas near Lawrence at the TribalVision ranch, where a dog pile of local and regional DJ talent kept everyone on their feet dancing through the night.

The next night Chakra hosted a variety of talent from DJs, burlesque dancers, and a prohibition-era Jazz band that played some wicked hot tunes. All of this towards helping promote the club as a new spot, and a certain cigarette company.

All was quite for the following week though. Everyone was saving energy for the swirl of chaos that would engulf the Uptown Theater. The second version of the successful Chaos Theory event from the previous year went off as huge, if not, more so.

More chill time followed that event, as another followed directly in the path the following weekend. The first version of Wakarusa completely consumed Clinton Lake State Park, with a huge lineup.

Meanwhile on the same night, Joe covered another fairly large event down at the Madrid. The Drum Diaries US Tour landed in town, and looks to have been quite a bit of fun. I was sorry to have missed that one, but then I would have missed Wakarusa!

Everything kind of slowed down a little at that point. We dropped in on a couple of random events. NuSkool had a BBQ, and a group of folks from the local music scene put together a benefit at for a local girl needing medical financial assistance.

Along with DJ Solaris, I played a little party down in the west bottoms. He also accompanied my in my quest for car keys out in Wamego, Kansas. We were on our way to an event out in a farm field nearby that Joe had already been at for most of the night, "Bangin Under Stairs."

We were thinking about banging at 3 am; that is, thinking about banging in my window. Surprisingly and fortunately, we were able to locate assistance with retrieving said keys and were off to the main event in no time, sort of.

Another themed event at the Empire Room closed out the month, with a little mid-summer Luau. There was not quite the level of participation as had been with the previous pajama party, but still quite a good crowd.

All of these events are restored to the site now. You can learn more about them through their respective event post, or scan through all of the events recently restored from June 2004.

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

... a monthly column presenting five random topics of interest associated with the underlying themes of the site ... music . dance . life . art . culture ... Headphones and turntables await the return of the next DJ in the lineup, amidst a backdrop of tie-dye during a visit to the 604 Paramore Sessions of 666 ZipCode Town Rekkids in November of 2002.

Access more from photos from a variety of events recently restored to the site from the menu on the right, or the "story archive" tab from any device.

music

Korg teases music making app for Nintendo Switch, in this story by Thuy Ong on The Verge about After watching the short clip in the article, I am not quite sure how it will rise above those apps already in the market with touch screen interaction. It could be fun for a lot Nintendo fans though.

Nature Inspires Non-spherical Drug Delivery Nanoparticles in this story by Kerry Taylor-Smith on AzoNano. It is a rare occurrence that anything in nature is perfectly spherical, while the complete opposite is often the challenge when synthesizing particles. Mimicking nature, and creating more random non-spherical nano particles, scientists hope to improve the delivery of drugs, such as certain toxins used in the treatment of cancerous tumors.

art

Chicago announces the city’s first public art plan, and Matthew Messner with The Architect's Newspaper examines how the city art program contributes to diversity of engagement through various incentives and programs in place since creating the first city-funded public art program in the United States in 1978.

Always looking to expand the social blogging aspect of the site, if you are interested in writing a column similar to this, any one of these topics, or have your own idea, leave a comment below or get in touch with the editor at phocas.net.

Sunday, October 01, 2017

... a monthly column presenting five random topics of interest associated with the underlying themes of the site ... music . dance . life . art . culture ... Eyes bulging, a ghostly apparition appears behind the stage at Davey's Uptown Ramblers Club during a performance by Stromkern back in October 2002. I am not sure if it was a painting hanging back there or actually painted on the back wall. It's not there any longer though.Access more photos from a variety of events recently restored to the site from the menu on the right, or the "story archive" tab from any device.

music

Coming back for what will likely be another strong showing, the Djakarta Warehouse Project. It is quickly becoming a global massive. Attendance last year boasted approximately 90,000, with more than 27,000 from somewhere other than Asia. The event is hosting some of the biggest names in the industry again this December in Jakarta, Indonesia.

dance

Moya Michael, left, and Faustin Linyekula in Banataba at The Metropolitan Museum of Art - photo by Stephanie Berger

"A Dance Crosses Borders, from the Congo to the Stars" by Paul David Young on Hyperallergic examines a recent exploration of storytelling by Cngolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula and American writer and director Annie Dorsen contemplate storytelling at the Crossing the Line Festival in the Upper East Side of New York.

life

image courtesy of BBC

Ever popular BBC Radio 1 (and 2, 3, and 4) just turned 50, releasing a new segment in their on-going 100 Voices that Made BBC Series. A cooperative of the University Of Sussex, Mass Observation, the Science Museum Group and the British Entertainment History Project, along with the BBC Oral History Collection reveal some of the hidden stories behind the launch of the 4 radio networks we know and love today.

art

Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, just started and sprawls over hundreds of miles of the Golden State with exhibitions, events, performances and programs, some lasting four months or more. Check the site link for more information about dates, venues and artists.

culture

Mulaka Screenshot Image: Lienzo

An indie game that aims to preserve an indigenous culture and its mythology, promising to immerse the play not only in the game, but also the Tarahumara indigenous culture, in a new form of digital historic preservation. The 3D action-adventure puzzle game has been in development for about three years now, aiming for a 2018 release on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam.

transmit

Restoration is complete through the end of May 2004, and June will be coming along soon.

Interested in contributing a column similar to this, any one of these topics, or if have your own idea, leave a comment below or get in touch with the editor at phocas.net.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Heading down to the exhibition game at Sprint Center, we arrived a little late, but it seemed a lot of other folks did as well. Everyone seemed really anxious for the game though. It has been awhile since we had a regular NHL game in Kansas City.

We only missed about six minutes of the first period. Theseats were pretty good, the only drawback being that you really could not see any action going on behind the goalie very well. The other end of is a bit far off too, but I guess that is what the jumbotron is for.

It seemed like right away there was a fight on the ice. We were not really sure what happened. The only replay they displayed was the the fight. It proved an interesting sideshow, nonetheless, and there were a few more near fights along the way.

It was a good game, with a fairly evenly split fan base in the stands. A local radio show pulled off a few little stunt games, such as wing eating contest, during intermissions. Overall it was a fun night for everyone in attendance.

The Wild beat the Blues in the last minute of play, and then exodus. A few random clips of the activities on the ice appear below, including the first physical disagreement, or view a few more photos from this event.

Friday, September 08, 2017

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Bloch Building, presented their third "Surfaces" performance, featuring performance group Quixotic. The free show included projection, choreography, and musical composition in honor of the architect, Steven Holl, quite literally shining a new sort of light on the iconic building.

For the uninitiated, "Quixotic is an innovative performance art collective that fuses imagination with technology, dance, projection mapping and live music to create fully-immersive, multi-sensory experiences. Quixotic harnesses light, rhythm and expressive emotion."

We arrived relatively early, but then so did everyone else. The area was nearing capacity at 630 pm, with folks lounging on blankets or their favorite chair, patiently awaiting the show. We picked up a great spot, just behind the sound board, with a wide enough viewing angle to catch a good view of all of the various performance stages.

I wandered about the circus-like atmosphere briefly before things got started,, stumbling upon some old friends and taking in the sights. At one of the homes across the street, a couple of ladies in gowns ambled about the lawn, and a line of food trucks tended lines just as long.

Once the show started, nearly everyone remained riveted to their spot though; well, most everyone. They should have probably shut down the walkway in front of the stage, as quite a few could not seem to keep from wandering in front a bit too often.

Drones are another annoyance the Nelson should consider blocking the next time they host a show such as this. Two of the mosquito-like creatures zoomed and hovered overhead throughout much of the show, detracting from the performance, and assaulting the auditory sense with their incessant buzzing. If I had only had a sling-shot, I could have remedied that problem easily.

It was a fantastic show though, from beginning to end, and the night could not have been more perfect either. Temperatures in the mid 20s C kept things cool, but not too uncomfortable for a night out on the back lawn.

Below is a little montage of the video captured from the event. It is not the greatest in spots, but the finale is as good as I hoped it would be from my vantage point (the last 5 minutes or so of the video); or, view a few more photos from this event.

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

May 2002 started off with a visit to the annual Polski Day celebration, and the 20th anniversary of the same. It was likely the best of all that we attended, setting the standard for all coming before, and those after. These days it is but a shadow of its former self.

Joe and I jumped in the car with a friends for a little road trip out to St Louis to check out the infamous DJ Keoki the following weekend. He lived up to his reputation and played a fun and energetic set, seeming to really enjoy himself. Chatting it up a little after his set, he proved to be as eccentric as imagined, but not in a bad way.

I didn't bother with going out again until Monday, when I dropped in on the weekly Evolution at Davey's Uptown. TJ and J. Phoenix from Lawrence traveled out to put on a little Live PA for folks.

Hiding away again for the rest of the week, I got bogged down in some other work, but was saving energy for Friday at Kabal anyway. It was a good thing I did too. Derrick Carter turned the place inside out, keeping the dance floor grooving until they had to be forced out.

Meanwhile, down at the Madrid, Joe paid a little visit to the first Liquid Buzz Appreciation Party, a free event at the Madrid that brought out all the kids who couldn't make it down to Kabal. They had been strictly 21 and over ever since the party we through there earlier in the year.

The next night found us bidding farewell to a couple of close DJ friends, Velvin and Shandi. They were heading to New York to seek out their fame and fortune. Shandi had a bit of a head start though, from her recent participation in America’s Top Model. Velvin was close behind though, and so far as I know, still chasing the NYC dream.

The Monday BLO party came along just after that, finally beginning to really turn out. When we first dropped by this event, it seemed they were never going to get anyone to come out on a Monday night; now, it seemed everyone was.

We dropped in on a different sort of show at Harling's Upstairs the previous week, featuring soloist Jonathan Ramsey playing some Irish favorites and quite a few others, with that sort of twist. Deciding decided to make another stop by the place to see if it was just as good, we were not disappointed in the least. He really puts a great show and really can definitely belt out a tune and get the crowd involved.

The Queens of the Underground took center stage a few days later in Omaha, and Joe and I hit the road along with several others from KC. The lineup featured some of the best lady DJs in the Midwest, dropping some of the baddest tracks all night long. It was an impressive show, and something nobody has been able to pull of since, or tried, really.

That must have taken a toll on me, since there was nothing for that Saturday. Monday held an event not to be missed though. The BLO Pajama Party brought out everyone that had been lounging around. Lingerie and night shirts littered the dance floor.

A night at Knuckleheads Saloon was an interesting distraction for that Friday, as something a little different to change things up. I did not want to get to involved in much of anything since I was heading off the Springfield with DJ Solaris, for his gig at Hex. That was quite a bit of fun!

I ran off to the lake for the week after that, and apparently a lot of other folks did too. Kourtney covered a little show Syde-Sho event down at the Stray Cat called Under Construction. It looked to be a lot of fun, but attendance definitely suffered at the hands of a weekend of perfect weather.

Returning just in time for a a little collaboration event DJ Two Heavy and I put together at the Empire Room, that seemed to be somewhat affected as well too. There was a decent turn out, but definitely nothing compared with other Mondays in the month.

All of these events are restored to the site now, and you can learn more about them through their respective event post, or scan through all of the events recently restored from May 2004.

We traveled a bit more the following month, but mostly stuck around KC. There were some shows that were not to be missed.

... a monthly column presenting five random topics of interest associated with the underlying themes of the site ... music . dance . life . art . culture ... Lasers pierce the black and white darkness above, at the show"Endless Summer 2" in Kansas City, back in September of 2002. It really did seem as much too, with mild temperatures throughout the winter, and the 9th lowest snowfall recorded.Access more from photos from a variety of events recently restored to the site from the menu on the right, or the "story archive" tab from any device.

music

Disco has been around since the 1970s, followed by House Music in the 1980s, and a veritable explosion of sub-genres since then. After nearly 50 years, some of the greatest in Electronic Music will be honored, in a show produced by Paul Oakenfold on September 21, 2017, at the Willow Studios in the downtown Los Angeles art district.

dance

"Dancing may help to combat brain aging," according to a recent study identified by Medical News Today. Many studies have already proven that physical activity can reduce cognitive decline, but dancing stimulates the hippocampus more than most other forms of exercise.

Pay no attention to that asteroid flying past earth right now! It is only the biggest that NASA has ever witnessed, weighing in at 4.3 km wide. They say there is really no cause for concern, as it is not expected to come any closer than a mere 7 million km (about 18 earth-moon distances). They have their eye on it, looking forward to get some great close-ups.

"In Mete Yafet's world, music and art are intertwined." The artist based in Instabul creates surreal 3D art, as well as music, imagining the music as he does, and vice versa. Inspiration for the works, as with many, comes from personal emotions and experience. All of the pieces in this story are fantastic in their own way.

culture

About midway through this month you will likely begin to see quite a few events popping up all over the country in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 through October 15. There are already a number of events planned in various places such as San Francisco, with others pending announcement, so stay on the lookout!

transmit

Restoration is complete through the end of May 2004, though not yet officially announced. A forthcoming post will take a look back soon.

Always looking to expand the social blogging aspect of the site, if you are interested in writing a column similar to this, any one of these topics, or have your own idea, leave a comment below or get in touch with the editor at phocas.net.